Jesse Helms on Government Reform

US decentralizes while Europe federalizes

Today, while our friends in Europe concede more and more power upwards to supra-national institutions like the European Union, Americans are heading in precisely the opposite direction. America is in a process of reducing centralized power by taking more
and more authority that had been amassed by the Federal government and referring it to the individual states where it rightly belongs.

This is why Americans reject the idea of a sovereign UN that presumes to be the source of legitimacy for the US
Government’s policies, foreign or domestic. There is only one source of legitimacy of the American government’s policies-and that is the consent of the American people.

If the UN respects the sovereign rights of the American people, and serves
them as an effective tool of diplomacy, it will earn and deserve their respect and support. But a UN that seeks to impose its presumed authority on the American people without their consent begs for confrontation and eventual US withdrawal.

Vote on passage of H.R. 2356; Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (Shays-Meehan bill, House equivalent of McCain-Feingoldf bill). Vote to ban “soft money” contributions to national political parties but permit up to $10,000 in soft money contributions to state and local parties to help with voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives. The bill would stop issue ads from targeting specific candidates within 30 days of the primary or 60 days of the general election. Additionally, the bill would raise the individual contribution limit from $1,000 to $2,000 per election for House and Senate candidates, both of which would be indexed for inflation.

Motion to Table Schumer Amdt. No. 2937; To permit the use of a signature or personal mark for the purpose of verifying the identity of voters who register by mail, and for other purposes. Voting Yes would kill the amendment. The amendment would allow a signature to identify voters who register by mail, instead of requiring showing photo identification or other proof of residence before being allowed to vote.

Voted NO on banning campaign donations from unions and corporations.

Vote to ban soft money donations to political parties and forbid corporate general funds and union general funds from being spent on issue ads. The bill would increase the individual contribution limit to candidates from $1,000 to $2,000.

Voted NO on continuing funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

This table motion would end debate on an amendment aimed at funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for the motion to table is a vote for NEA funding. [YES to table means supporting the NEA; NO means defunding the NEA].
Status: Motion to Table Agreed to Y)80; N)16; NV)4